New Zemmer Middle School construction photos

Take a look at some new construction photos from Zemmer Middle School. New steel framing for the main south entry has been installed.

Lapeer West junior Justin Hellebuyck wins design contest

Lapeer West junior Justin Hellebuyck won a statewide SkillsUSA Michigan design contest and will see his winning artwork on the cover of the group’s program for its State Convention.

Justin made the design in his Computer Aided Design class at the Lapeer Education and Technology Center. A total of 133 designs were submitted and Justin’s emerged in the top 3 in the contest.

The son of Frank and Marie Hellebuyck, of Otter Lake, Justin hopes to work with computers as a career.

According to the SkillsUSA website, the group is a “partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce.” The organization has 13,000 school chapters in 54 state and territorial associations.

The convention will be in Lansing in April.

Students find creative ways to raise money for Haitian earthquake relief efforts

Money raised during a concert at Lapeer East High School will be donated to the Haitian relief effort through the Healing Hands International Organization.

The “Helping Haiti Heal Benefit Concert!” which is being organized by East students Katherine Baeckeroot and Rebecca Wright, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, February 5, at the Lapeer East High School Auditorium and will feature East junior Tate Robinson playing the guitar and singing. Lapeer East Social Studies Teacher Al Margrif, who has played guitar since he was 12, will offer his brand of acoustic rock.

Rick Samano, owner of Lapeer Music in downtown Lapeer, is bringing his electric guitar for his part of the concert. Tickets are $5.

“My heart was torn by the images of the devastation on the island of Haiti,” said Mr. Margrif. “When I was asked if I could play a few songs in a fundraiser, I jumped at the chance. I love the students at Lapeer East and I wanted to help them in their effort to raise funds for the people of Haiti.”

Students also plan to host a silent auction during the concert.

At Lapeer West, senior Wei Li Crawford is continuing her effort to raise money for Haiti by selling T-shirts. The shirts are $10 and are available at Lapeer West High School.

Lapeer East students in Mr. Russell Reitz’s Spanish classes raised more than $300 for the Helping Haiti Heal drive. The top class was Mr. Reitz’s third hour class.

Lapeer East cheerleaders travel to Escanaba for competition

Escanaba might be an unusual winter destination, but the Lapeer East Cheerleading squad made the trek there recently for a good reason ­-- to compete in a cheerleading event.

The girls on the squad, their parents and Coach Naomi Peck raised $3,500 to take the 20 girls, coaches and chaperones to the event at Escanaba High School. Money collected from cookie dough sales, car washes, raffles and donations from sponsors made the trip possible.

Crossing the Mackinac Bridge was a first for about half the team, which made the eight-hour trip Friday, January 22.

The team was served a potluck dinner prepared by parents of the Escanaba High School team. The girls attended a boys’ basketball game at Escanaba High School on Saturday, then had a swim outing with the Escanaba cheerleaders at the Super 8 Motel.

Coach Peck learned of the Escanaba Invitational Cheerleading event through a state cheerleading website and from her aunt, who is a cook at Escanaba High School.

The Lapeer East girls’ also were featured in an article in the Escanaba Daily Press newspaper.

“It was a great trip and a great experience for our team,” said Coach Peck.

The Eagles finished in fifth place in the nine-team field.

Lapeer East High School students to sign athletic commitment letters

Two Lapeer East High School athletes will sign commitment letters to colleges at a signing ceremony in the school’s Media Center on Wednesday, February 3, at 2:30 p.m.

Payton McCallum, who played offense and defense for the Lapeer East High School varsity football team, will commit to play college football at Grand Valley State University. He was named a First Team offense and defense player in the Flint Metro League and was co-Most Valuable Player.

Volleyball player Ellery Owen will accept an offer to play for St. Clair Community College next year. Owen was a Flint Metro League First Team selection.

Parents, coaches and teammates of the two students are expected to be at the ceremony.

"An Evening of One Acts" opens at Lapeer East tonight

Lapeer High School Drama Club will present An Evening of One-Act Plays on Thursday, January 28 and Friday, January 29 at 7 p.m. in the Lapeer East Auditorium.

Tickets may be purchased in the Lapeer East Auditorium lobby before the show. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students and senior citizens and $7 for adults.

The four one-act plays are: “Don’t Say Macbeth,” a wacky and quick study on the story and curse of the Scottish tragedy; “Scuba Lessons,” a realistic comedy about a double blind date that went wrong; “The Least Offensive Play in the Whole Darn World,” a story of new technology “ScriptCleaner5000” that makes any play suitable for a high school audience; and “The Three Wise Mens’ Dumber Brothers,” a comedic look at the search for the Three Wise Men by their younger less intelligent brothers.

Cast of the “Scuba Lessons,” which is directed by Caitlin York, is Haley Ward, Alex Giddings, Garrett Miller, Bridget Stemm, Kyle Schmude and Justin McCrory. Cast of “Don’t Say Macbeth, which is directed by Matt Schneider, is Nick Lucchesi, Aaron Knowlton, Sarah Sweeney, Kelsey Kolvek, Miranda Sanborn, Nate Scharrer, Paul Eastman, Justin McCrory and Madison Dearing.

Cast of “The Least Offensive Play in the Whole Darn World,” (see photo above) which is directed by Lucas Cosens, is Dylan Dahring, Marcus Sparks, Jesse McKelvie, Leyna Burel, Wei Lei Crawford, Kevin Roach, and Zach Fick. Cast for “The Three Wise Men’s Dumber Younger Brothers,” which is directed by Steven Hoffa, is Janelle VanWagner, Katy Peacock, Jesse McKelvie, Ben Blythe, Brandon Turcott, Vicky Mullins, Monique Morris, Andrew Roark, Alissa Mazur-Batistoni, Jennifer Eskridge and Brittany Walker.

More dress rehearsal photos are available on the District photo gallery.

Lapeer students step up to help Haiti

Lapeer students and staff have opened their hearts, imaginations and wallets in finding creative ways to raise money to help with relief efforts in Haiti since the devastating earthquake on January 12.

Lapeer West Student Council voted to send $1,000 to the American Red Cross and West senior Wei Li Crawford (see photo at left) worked with Assistant Principal/Athletic Director Mary Haslinger to organize Haitian relief collections during basketball games at the school Friday, January 22, and again on February 12.

Wei Li has collected gift cards and donations from local businesses and put posters up around school. Nearly $200 was raised at the January 22 basketball game.

“It warms my heart,” said Hollie Marcola, staff advisor to West’s Student Council. “There are a lot of good people in this world.”

The sixth-grade class of Ms. Maja Burris and Ms. Shellie Forgione’s third-grade class at Mayfield Elementary School recently began a study of earthquakes and have started a collection of change to donate to the American Red Cross. The students have formed a committee called “Hearts for Haiti”.

Paper hearts will be sold for a $1 and hung in the hallway with the donor’s name. The goal is to raise $500 to donate to the “Save the Children Haiti Emergency Fund.”
Schickler Elementary School has set up a collection jug in the hall for the next month to collect for relief. Students at Schickler are also having a race to Haiti with teachers’ names on a long sheet of paper. Each time a student donates a quarter it will put their teacher’s name on a on sticker closer to Haiti. The winning teacher and class win a prize.

The Student Council at Zemmer Junior High School at Rolland-Warner had a “Hat Day for Haiti” on Friday, January 22 and raised $272.10. Hats are not usually allowed in school, but for a $1 donation students were allowed to have a hat for the day.

Lapeer East students sold bracelets for $2 starting on Wednesday, January 20 and continue through February 5 with all the money going to Healing Hands International to help with Haiti relief. So far more than $450 has been raised.

In addition to the bracelets, Katherine Baeckeroot and Rebecca Wright are organizing a Haiti Relief Concert from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Lapeer East Auditorium on Friday, February 5.

Lynch Elementary School staff and students have already raised more than $100 collecting pennies and loose change. During the week of January 25-29 students can donate 25-cents for the privilege of wearing a hat in school.

Students on the Murphy Elementary School Student Council are having a bake sale on Wednesday, January 27, to raise money for Haiti.

Ms. Elizabeth Gorkowski, a Turrill Elementary School teacher and her third grade class organized a “Hats Off for Haiti” fund raiser. Every Friday in February students will be able to wear a hat at school for 50-cents each week. A bake sale to help the Haitians is scheduled for Wednesday, February 24.